One of the more vocal anti-Trump lawmakers in D.C. is criticizing the president’s decision to tap Vice President Mike Pence to head the government’s team responding to the coronavirus.
Rep. Ilhan Omar slammed President Trump’s decision to select Pence to lead the effort, citing his failure to respond quickly enough to an HIV outbreak that infected 126 people in rural Scott County, Indiana, in 2015.
“Let this sink in: Mike Pence, who enabled the worst HIV outbreak in Indiana’s history, is leading the coronavirus response,” tweeted Omar on Thursday. “A real public health professional must step up to handle this. This is not a drill — lives are at stake.”
Let this sink in: Mike Pence, who enabled the worst HIV outbreak in Indiana’s history, is leading the coronavirus response.
A real public health professional must step up to handle this. This is not a drill — lives are at stake.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 27, 2020
A 2018 report in the Lancet Medical Journal agreed with Omar’s critique, suggesting the spread of HIV would have been mitigated had Pence acted sooner. The then-governor enacted a short-term needle exchange program that was effective in minimizing the outbreak.
Omar, a member of the far-left freshman House group “the Squad,” has harshly criticized Trump on a number of issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy. Her criticism of Pence echoed that of fellow Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said, “As governor, Pence’s science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana’s history.”
2020 Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders also made a similar point, arguing that Pence “wanted to ‘pray away’ HIV epidemic” as governor.
